Knowing his phone number reunites kindergartner with Mom

Tuesday

Dropped off in an unfamiliar neighborhood a mile away from his home on Friday afternoon, Davion Conley, a kindergartner at Hazel Dell Elementary School, had no idea where he was.

WITH SIDEBAR: Tips for school bus riders, parents

Dropped off in an unfamiliar neighborhood a mile away from his home on Friday afternoon, Davion Conley, a kindergartner at Hazel Dell Elementary School, had no idea where he was.

A mix-up at the school had placed him on the wrong bus, and at the end of the route, Davion, 5, apparently was told to get off with the rest of the remaining students.

A few minutes later, Evelyn Bucci, who was in her bedroom watching television, was distracted by a noise outside.

Bucci was concerned that neighborhood kids had gotten into a dumpster being used during roof repairs at her and her husband’s Laketown home, about a block away from where the bus had dropped off Davion. Then she heard loud knocking at the front door.

“I expected to find an adult,” Bucci recalled Monday. It was Davion.

By the time she opened the door, he was sitting on the Buccis’ porch bench, cross-legged and crying.

“He was very neat and well-taken care of,” Bucci said. “I knew he came from a family quite worried.”

She was right.

At the same time, Davion’s mother, Nicole Wells, was frantically trying to find her son after Davion didn't get off the bus at his assigned stop in the Lake Victoria subdivision.

Hazel Dell Elementary School principal Jason Wind, also now trying to find Davion, phoned to tell Wells that her son might have been dropped off somewhere in the Poplar Place neighborhood. That tip came from a Laidlaw school bus driver assigned to a different Hazel Dell route.

Wind and Chuck Medley, a Springfield School District administrator, went to Poplar Place to knock on doors in search of Davion.

But by the time they got there, Bucci already had called Wells -- Davion was not carrying any identification, but he did know his phone number.

Minutes later, Evelyn and Ralph Bucci were driving him home.

Wind said Tuesday he still didn’t know exactly what caused the mistake. Children who ride the bus home line up in Hazel Dell’s gym at designated spots according to their bus numbers. They also wear stickers stating which bus they’re supposed to board. Whether Davion was placed, or got bumped into, the wrong line is unknown.

“He got lost in the shuffle,” Wind said. “It was our mistake. Hopefully, it will never happen again.”

Other than Friday’s incident, Wind said, he hasn’t had a single mishap in the four years he’s been principal at Hazel Dell. However, to make sure there’s not another one, he completely revised his school’s bus-boarding system. Wind said bused students now will be matched to their buses according to a color-coded system — something Wells suggested — and every student will be assigned to a particular bus seat.

“They needed to come up with something,” Wells said. “The principal is handling it well.”

However, Wells said her son remains traumatized. He has told his mother he doesn’t want to take the bus anymore and she’s been driving him to and from school.

On Sunday, two days after getting lost, he wrote a letter to his teacher, pledging to be good in school. Wells said her son is afraid he did something wrong to deserve what happened.

One piece of good news is that Davion encountered a helpful resident during his ordeal.

“I’m so grateful he picked us,” Bucci said. “We felt quite special.”

Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539 or pete.sherman@sj-r.com.

SIDEBAR

Every year, more than 24 million school children ride buses to and from school, according to the School Bus Information Council. Inevitably, a few of them enter the wrong bus or get off at the wrong stop.

The following tips for parents and children, gathered from numerous sources, may help reduce or more quickly resolve bus mishaps:

For parents:

*Make sure children carry their name, address and phone number and that the identification is securely fashioned to an article of clothing or backpack. Better yet, help them also memorize that information.

*Become familiar with a child’s bus route — where it stops and starts and at what times. Have school, bus-company and emergency phone numbers easily accessible.
*Meet children at the bus stop. If that’s not possible, recruit a responsible sibling, neighbor, baby sitter, etc.

*Help children learn their bus route and teach them not to get off at an unfamiliar location. Drive the route with them in your car so they become familiar with it.

*Learn the school’s system for lining up kids for the bus, what is required when a change of plans is necessary and who, specifically, is responsible for watching your children board the bus.

*Help your child learn how to place a collect phone call.

For children:

*Tell the bus driver that you are not supposed to get off at a stop that looks strange or is unfamiliar.

*If you are dropped off at an unfamiliar location, walk with another student to his or her house or apartment.

*If no students are available to follow, stop and look around. Try to find a house where there are swings, toys or other children-friendly objects around.

*Do not hide.

*Do not enter a stranger’s car.

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